Pope Francis Must Address Women’s Reproductive Well-Being

Aug 27, 2014

The Guardian: Pope Francis has done little to improve women’s lives
Tina Beattie, professor of Catholic studies at the University of Roehampton in London

“Pope Francis has repeatedly said he wants a poor church of the poor. … He has also acknowledged the need to give women a greater say in the life of the church, though he has done little to achieve this. Yet poverty impacts unrelentingly and acutely on women’s lives, and nowhere does the absence of women’s influence manifest itself so clearly as around the church’s teachings on sexual and reproductive ethics. … If the pope wants a church that prioritizes the needs of the poor, then addressing women’s reproductive well-being is fundamental to that goal…” (8/27).